


claws and teeth and oh so many fangs

by LexTheMoose



Series: Pantherverse [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Ficlet, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Scared Shane Madej, Shapeshifting, bird!Shane, i guess, panther!Ryan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:28:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22034821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexTheMoose/pseuds/LexTheMoose
Summary: "You wanna get over your fear of panthers, right big guy?" He asks, there is a spark in his eyes Shane doesn't know what to do with, but it makes him uneasy.He sits up a little straighter, the smile is gone from his face in an instant and he only realizes his nails are digging into his lower arm when it starts to sting by the strength of his grip. If Ryan is implying what Shane thinks he's implying...
Relationships: Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej
Series: Pantherverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1586017
Comments: 20
Kudos: 162





	claws and teeth and oh so many fangs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LordOfDeath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LordOfDeath/gifts).



> A Shapeshifter AU created by my best friend (LordOfDeath here and josemorningstar on tumblr) that I love so goddamn much.
> 
> Find me on tumblr: kingspapercrown.tumblr.com

"I have a proposition for you," Ryan says one morning as he shows up next to Shane at their desks, he didn't even put his bag down yet. Shane takes off his headphones, abandoning his editing session to turn towards him and raise his eyebrows at his friend.

Ryan sits, rolling closer to Shane with his chair, almost intimidatingly close like he's ready to share a secret. His knees are between Shane's legs, so much so that he had to open them wider when Ryan intruded in on his personal space. It's obvious how flustered Shane becomes by all of that, but he's desperately trying to hide it, rubbing a hand down his own arm.

"So?"

"So-"

They start at the same time, and both burst out in wheezy laughter a second later but Shane gestures to him to continue, still smiling curiously.

"You wanna get over your fear of panthers, right big guy?" He asks, there is a spark in his eyes Shane doesn't know what to do with, but it makes him uneasy.

He sits up a little straighter, the smile is gone from his face in an instant and he only realizes his nails are digging into his lower arm when it starts to sting by the strength of his grip. If Ryan is implying what Shane thinks he's implying... 

"Nope, no way, Ry. That's just not happening." He spins back to his desk, at least very much would like to, but Ryan's knees are still between his legs and * _oh shit_ *, his hands are on both of Shane's thighs now, not to hurt, but just firmly enough to keep him right there and stop Shane from trying to run away from the topic at hand.

"You didn't even listen to me. Look, you help me all the time on location. Make your silly jokes and tell the ghosts to rip your heart out or whatever crazy shit you come up with lately. And God knows why, but it calms me down." Ryan holds Shane's gaze the whole time he talks and Shane finds himself mesmerized by it. So he just shuts up for once and listens. "Let me help you too, Shane. You said you wanted to get over it too." 

He did, Shane remembers. It was the day he found out what exactly Ryan is. Much bigger and scarier than the little black cat or corgi he expected. And well, Shane's just a bird. It's natural, the pure fear that comes over him whenever he imagines those sharp teeth close over his small feathery body. 

It's natural that he literally stumbled back when Ryan shared that information with him at an office party a little bit drunk, and most definitely hurt, seeing his friend's reaction. 

And yet Shane, also a little bit drunk, foolishly promised him that it won't change anything, that he'll get over it by exposure therapy or whatever dumb shit was pouring out of his mouth without the full permission of his brain.

And sure, that reveal didn't change anything. At first. As the days, then eventually weeks went by Shane found himself keeping a healthy distance from Ryan. He pushed his chair further from his, so much that they had to change up the camera angle so they both could be in the frame like they used to, at the very beginning of Unsolved. 

None of them ever noticed how much distance hasn't been between them until there was a whole lot.

If Shane let his guard down, and Ryan touched him out of the blue, he flinched every single time, and then some more internally, when he saw the sunshine smile he loved so much disappear from Ryan's face. Shane knew they couldn't go on like this for long before Ryan doesn't even want to be in his presence anymore because he keeps acting like Ryan has the plague.

And well, Shane thought when that day will finally come Ryan will just dump his ass out of Unsolved and will never talk to him again. Which is admittedly a bit dramatic. 

Clearly, Shane doesn't know Ryan as much as he thought he did, but in retrospect, he should've known Ryan never half-asses anything, nor gives up on things too easily. 

That's how he found himself pinned to the chair by him, looking at Shane expectantly, which would be considerably hot in any other situation. When they're talking about Shane facing Ryan in his fully shapeshifted form? Not so much.

"I did say that, yes," Shane says eventually, quietly, his mouth feels dry like it's stuffed full of cotton balls. 

"So? Look, I won't force you, of course, I won't. I know what it's like to be scared out of your mind." Ryan says, finally tearing his gaze away from Shane, his eyes are a little glossy, a little distant and Shane goes soft immediately like he does every time Old City Jail is brought up between them. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind he already knows he will say yes, even though the request terrifies him to his core. Ryan continues before Shane has a chance to try and comfort him, that determined look is back on his face.

"But you always gave me that final push I needed to realize that hey, maybe this isn't so bad, maybe I can do this. So, please Shane, let me do the same thing for you," he pleads, leaning into Shane's space so much that Shane is sure some of their co-workers are staring. 

Maybe Curly already posted some silly Instagram story about them, but he couldn't care less at the moment, all his senses are hyperfocused on Ryan. And how could he say no to him?

"Alright, you got me," Shane says, a little bit defeated but Ryan practically lights up at his words, and Shane would find it incredibly endearing if he wasn't a bundle of nerves at the moment. Ryan opens his mouth to answer but Shane holds up a finger to silence him. 

"I have some requirements. First of all, we're doing this at my place." He says and Ryan nods along, enthusiastically. "Second of all, if I say I can't do this, we stop, alright?" 

"Not to be that person, but it really sounds like we're discussing doing some kinky BDSM stuff for the first time. In public." Ryan points out when he determined Shane doesn't want to say anything more. He's grinning like an idiot, and Shane can't exactly tell if he wants to kiss him or smack him, a little bit of both, he decides.

"Don't make me regret agreeing to this." He sighs and finally turns back to his now dark screen when Ryan lets go of him, but he wouldn't miss seeing that full-body wheeze only Shane can make him do for the world.

They agreed on a set time later that day, and Shane has been nearly exploding out of his skin an hour before Ryan is supposed to arrive.

Sure, he could distract himself before with work, watching a little bit of British Bake Off, but now that he only has an hour left he's seriously questioning why he even accepted this whole deal.

* _Because you don't want to lose your best friend, dumbass,_ * his brain unhelpfully supplies. And it's true, unfortunately, so he just has to power through it. How hard could it be? Ryan won't hurt him, they're friends! Shane can totally do this. He'll be so brave, Ryan will be impressed.

He yelps when a few sharp knocks rang through his apartment, and one would even say he jumped, but Shane did no such thing, Obi got spooked out of his peaceful nap by something else entirely. 

Speaking of Obi, Shane locks him into his room before, grateful he doesn't have to chase him in there after Shane's near heart attack scare. None of them need the chaos of his jumpy and shy cat reacting to a much bigger one. 

Shane rushes to let Ryan in, heart still in his throat, from both the sudden noise and the upcoming events of the next hour or so.

"You're so pale, have you seen a ghost?" Ryan comments, with an ever-present smile on his face, but he's nervous too, to an extent, if the way he's tugging on the sleeves of his sweater is anything to go by. 

"Very funny, but air doesn't scare me like it scares * _someone_ *." Shane huffs as he's letting him in and there is no malice in his voice, but Ryan still ignores him. Rude. 

"So, where do you want to do this?" 

"I pushed the couch back so you can have some space to shapeshift," Shane says, he also pushed the coffee table out of the way completely, so they have plenty of space to work with. 

He considers leaving the door of his apartment open, just in case he needs a means of a quick escape, but he decides against it. He wants to end this today. He wants to touch Ryan without fear and sit next to him again like they used to. 

Unsolved brought them together so wonderfully, Shane can't ruin it by being unreasonably scared.

"I think you just have to do it," Shane tells him, taking a big breath. 

"You know, throw me in the deep waters." He jokes, but his voice is shaking, his hands are shaking, his whole body is shaking for that matter and Shane only noticed it now. He curses softly, twisting his hand together and ducking his head down, embarrassed and frustrated with himself. 

Why are his instincts make such a big deal out of this? He's pulled out of his thoughts by two palms settling on either side of his face and Ryan's big eyes and concerned expression fills up his vision.

"Hey, it's okay. We don't have to do this, it was pretty selfish of me. I just- it hurts, Shane, you looking at me all the time like I would snap you in half any minute. You know I would never hurt you." He repeats, almost desperately, and the logical part of Shane's brain believes him, it really does. Unfortunately, it does very little to calm him down, but he tries.

"I want to, though. I want to do this because it sucks majorly for the both of us." He takes another gulp of breath, closing his eyes for a few seconds, looking at Ryan with newfound determination when he opens them again.

"Just do it."

Ryan steps back, still a little unsure, but he obeys. Shane watches the claws appear, his eyes drifting up to catch sight of the fangs too, and it feels like his stomach drops through the second floor when he does.

A long, black tail appears next, followed by fluffy ears poking out from between Ryan's hair. Fur starts coating every inch of his body, eyes turn yellow and before Shane could even have a single coherent thought, * _there he is_ *.

Huge, beautiful and utterly terrifying. 

Shane stares at Ryan, like a deer in the headlights, his whole body is numb and everything in him screams at him to run, but he stays right there, none of them daring to make a move. Shane too stunned to do so, Ryan unsure how to proceed without making Shane flee.

He decides to sit and poke his tongue out, blinking up at Shane like he would be the most adorable little black cat Shane once thought he was.

And Shane laughs, it doesn't sound quite right, bit too hysterical, but Ryan files it away as a small victory. 

"Fuck, you're ridiculous," Shane says, Ryan takes note of how rough he sounds. But at least he didn't bolt. The opposite, actually, Shane is sitting down on the floor, crossing his legs even though his breathing is heavy and his eyes are huge. Ryan hates seeing him so scared out of his mind.

He lifts his paw and takes a tentative step towards Shane, freezing when he catches Shane's hand gripping his knee, on high alert. He's about to back off again, but Shane gives him a tight nod, pushing through it so Ryan does too.

Ryan's in front of him shortly, if Shane would reach out, he could bury his hand in soft, black fur. He does, without thinking, his fingers are still numb as they comb through Ryan's coat, on his neck, narrowly avoiding those horrifying teeth and pushing away the thoughts of what it could do to him. 

The deep purr Ryan lets out startles Shane out of his thoughts, so much so he jerks his hand away like he's been burned. At least Ryan has the decency to give him an apologetic look, tongue poking out of his mouth slightly ever since, and his eyes are blown wide, leaving barely any yellow visible, swallowed by the black of his pupils.

Shane laughs again, sounding slightly more stable, which Ryan thinks is a * _very_ * good sign. He even reaches out again, to start petting his head and Ryan shamelessly arches into the touch, nearly vibrating from excitement. Shane finally seems to trust him enough.

They sit like that for a while, long long minutes pass by, with Ryan purring loudly as Shane scratches at his ears, smiling and slowly regulating his breathing. It's not so bad after all, panthers are nothing but big cats. Way too big, Shane's pretty sure Ryan's paws are as big as his head and that's a very scary fact. 

He still turns them around, carefully, and Ryan lets him, he's just laying there now, relaxed, tail twitching happily from all the attention he's getting. He watches with curious eyes as Shane traces his fingers over the inside of his paw, feeling the softness of them. Following his face journey is the most entertaining thing in the world, his expression turning to awe then settling on a huge grin Shane probably doesn't even realize is there.

Ryan stretches, enjoying Shane's gaze on him and then rolls his back, looking at him as expectantly and arrogantly as only a cat can. Shane knows that exact look, Obi gave it to him many times.

"Obi always tricks me the same way too, you know. And then I give him belly rubs and he catches my hand like a sharp little bear trap." Shane laughs, he barely even has any fear in him now, it slowly seeped out of his body, letting his guard falter permanently until he's carelessly running his hands over any part of Ryan without flinching even the slightest bit.

Ryan, just to make his point clear shows off his belly even more, and giving Shane's leg next to his head a nudge with his nose.

Shane has no other choice but to give in and stroke his hand down Ryan's belly. He could never say no to him, that's a universal fact. The effect is immediate, Ryan is purring like a goddamn engine, laying his head into Shane's lap and the look of content on his face could melt Shane completely until he's nothing but a puddle on the floor.

It only occurs to him how intimate this whole thing is, between friends when Shane goes back to scratching at his ears and Ryan nearly falls asleep on him. The overwhelming urge to lean down and kiss his nose like he often does with Obi is like a slap in the face and Shane obeys it without thinking, leaning down and giving a big smooch to the bridge of Ryan's nose. 

Ryan blinks up at him, wide awake all of a sudden and before Shane could apologize, an embarrassed flush already present on his face, there is no panther in his lap anymore.

It's soft strands of black hair and Ryan's rough stubble under his fingertips, still idly scratching at the spot under Ryan's ear. Dark, brown eyes are staring back at him, and Ryan is grinning from ear to ear, to the relief of Shane.

"Fear conquered?" He asks as he sits up and Shane snorts.

"Fear conquered, little guy." Shane nods solemnly. It feels good like a weight was lifted off his chest.

"Will you stop treating me like I tried to rip your throat out now?" Ryan jokes, but Shane can hear the weeks of hurt feelings behind it. He felt it too, the fear of losing their friendship, pushing Ryan away to the point even the viewers noticed something was not right. He's forever going to be grateful for what Ryan did, and maybe he understands it somewhat better now, how much it helps when he helps Ryan push through his fear on location.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," Shane answers, and he must be frowning because Ryan's hand finds his own, linking their fingers together and it should feel strange, but it doesn't. It's almost natural, the way their hands fit together.

"I know, Shane," Ryan reassures him gently. "So, you know now that we've dealt with this, want to watch a movie?" He asks like it's that simple, and Shane hadn't had a life-changing moment just then.

Shane laughs, letting Ryan pull him up off the ground, still clasping Shane's hand on his own and not letting go, not even when they move to sit on the couch for a few minutes.

And as Ryan shamelessly leans into him, pressing their bodies together from head to toe almost, Shane thinks some kind of barrier broke between them.

He conquered another fear of his, one Ryan doesn't know about just yet, but when Shane is going to ask him out later that night over a bowl of popcorn and two bottles of beer he already knows what Ryan's answer will be.


End file.
